What is an Intercessory Missionary?

At the House of Prayer Hattiesburg, we are ran by a group of people called Intercessory Missionaries. We are a special group of individuals who are committed to giving our all for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Just like any other missionary, we have to raise support to meet our financial needs, such as rent, bills, and eats. We live, work, and pray by faith that God will provide. I can’t imagine living another way. I see this as a lifestyle for the rest of my life until God says otherwise.

Here is some biblical foundations to this ministry taken from Joshua Hawkins website … I recommend you visit it!

We are all familiar with missionaries who focus on preaching or mercy deeds (providing food, medical care, etc.). But the Lord is also calling forth a new type of missionary that is essential to completing the Great Commission. The foundational example of this type of missionary is found in Luke 2:36-38:

“Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-38 NKJV)

Anna prayed night and day in the temple with fasting for over sixty years just prior to the First Coming of Jesus. Anna was the first evangelist that we see in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is raising up those like Anna once again to pray, fast and preach prior to Jesus’ Second Coming. This “Anna Anointing” transcends gender and age, where men and women, young and old live as intercessory missionaries laboring for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Intercession and worship is the means that God has chosen to establish His kingdom on the earth. Prayer changes the spiritual atmosphere over cities and nations (Matthew 6:10, Psalm 149). Prayer brings us into agreement with God’s heart, and from that place of full agreement and partnership God’s kingdom breaks in to the earth.

An intercessory missionary is one who has been divinely “set” on a wall of intercession (Isaiah 62:6-7) as one who would give the Lord no rest in prayer until His desires are fully brought forth on the earth. This intercessory mission calling is entirely selfless by definition – it is a giving of oneself wholeheartedly for one Man’s agenda, with the knowledge that His plan and purpose is far greater than anything man could possibly devise. (Deuteronomy 6:5, Joel 2:17).

Jesus’ desire was that the kingdom and the will of God would be completely manifest on the earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Jesus won’t do this “in a vacuum”, apart from men and women doing it in partnership with Him. He chose seemingly foolish means to bring this to pass, because He longed to do it in intimate relationship to human beings. Jesus said that His kingdom would not come not by human force or might and not by human intellect or wisdom, but by Godly wisdom – simply by saying back to God in prayer what He told us to tell Him. It is as the church all over the globe and these “set”, full-time watchmen like myself ask the Lord persistently and cry out day and night (Luke 11, Luke 18:7-8), He promises to release speedy justice and establish the kingdom of God on the earth.

Some supporting scriptures:

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”
(Isaiah 62:6-7 NKJV)

“Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp. For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand, To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples; To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute on them the written judgment—This honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 149:1-9 NKJV)

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.”
(Matthew 6:10 NKJV)

““So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!””
(Luke 11:9-13 NKJV)

“And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?””
(Luke 18:7-8 NKJV)

“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.””
(Luke 24:49 NKJV)

For those who wish to support me financially in my work in the House of Prayer, a link is provided below! Thank you very much and may the Lord richly bless you and your offering!

39 Responses to “What is an Intercessory Missionary?”

I am a full time intercessor. But, I work a part time job at a restaurant as a dishwasher to help with the bills and such. I want to be where I only pray night and day. I am trusting the Lord to provide.

nothing really… it’s like any other missionary… i just pray instead of going to places… we pray for missionaries, churches, our region as well as other various other things.

I know people don’t like this idea because they will ask us “Why aren’t you going out and doing this that or the other. You can go to Africa and do this that or the other. But I believe that Prayer is the gas in the car for those people going out and doing foreign missions. I am a firm believer that Prayer produces the work that is seen in missions and it should never be viewed as the other way around. Prayer isn’t the icing on the cake… it’s the cake

I didn’t ask, “What is the difference between an overseas missionary and an intercessory missionary?” When you define an intercessory missionary as this: “We are a special group of individuals who are committed to giving our all for the sake of the Kingdom of God.” I would have to reply that this is sounds like…um…the church. I guess I thought that we are all intercessory missionaries–those who believe in Christ–and that our corporate function is intercession due to the priesthood of all believers. So, with that said it would then be the church which is a special group of individuals committed to giving their all to the Kingdom of God. I just wasn’t aware that certain people were more “called” to this than others.

An Intercessory Missionary is an Intercessor. Like an overseas missionary is one who goes overseas according to the Great Commission. An Intercessory Missionary is one who intercedes for an overseas missionary according to Matt 9:38, 2 Thessalonians 3:1 and many others. I believe it is impossible to have effective overseas missions without night and day prayer and intercession by Intercessory Missionaries.

An Intercessory Missionary is one who gives his life to prayer and fasting for the awakening of the church and to see the kingdom of God come to the earth.

“An Intercessory Missionary is one who gives his life to prayer and fasting for the awakening of the church and to see the kingdom of God come to the earth.”

Sorry, but still don’t find ‘intercession’ listed in any of the lists of giftings in Romans, Ephesians, or Corinthians. Um, I also don’t see it in any of the prooftexts you provided. So…in what way exactly are you ‘set’ on the wall? You cite Isaiah 62–I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent,
7 And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth—-to support an intercessory prayer missionary’s being ‘set’ to fulfill a specific office. This sounds like a spiritual gift.

I will tell you that I found this site as a result of a search and I know now that the missions call God has placed on my life is just this. I pray all day long. I see that the church is lacking a drive to pray. I have been actively doing this ministry and I did not even know that there was a name for it. Tim maybe did not explain that this calling is coupled with an intense drive to pray. It flows naturally and effortlessly and through this type of prayer mountains are moved. My husband was an atheist. About a year ago he asked the Lord Jesus Christ to be his Lord. Since that time, as I had prayed for 18 years, My faith was so radically built that God has propelled me into this intercessory mode in which I do not even understand. I think you are getting bogged down with the religiosity. When you have a physical evidence of this calling that was not there before you will understand. No amount of discussion can convince you BUT when you are in this role you pray for churches as you drive by them and you LOVE in a way that you have never loved before. You will notice it as it consumes you but it is very natural. Ask God to plant this calling in your heart if you are skeptical. You will be BLOWN AWAY!!!!!!!!!!! As I have been.

I would also like to add that this calling was intact before I even knew IHOP existed. I just discovered this ministry in the past 3 months. So, I can see that God is still in the business of confirming His callings as well as revealing new moves of the Holy Spirit and when someone comes along and experiences the same thing but has not previous knowledge or understanding just the evidence that I spoke of previously, You can be assured that God is at the forefront of the movement. I don’t attest to be John the Baptist but I know that He has anointed me with the same anointing. Jesus did say that we would do greater works and how is that possible without an intense commitment to prayer and fasting. I have been a Christian for 33 years and this is a new evidence in my life and I can tell you that I prayed that God would give me a desire for His word and a fervent prayer life and I stand AMAZED because my personality does not come by consistency very easily.

Intercession doesn’t have to be a so called gift of the spirit… we are all called to Intercession in one way or another.

Besides during David’s day, an Intercessory Missionary was all too common. There were people always in the temple praying night and day. They even had one who’s only job was to clean the pans that baked the showbread.

Seeing how we don’t have the Levitical priesthood and that we are all made priests unto the Lord, we all have our offices and our parts in the coming of the Lord Jesus. Some are to be in the ‘temple’ interceding and others support those who are in there so they can have a place to come be before the Lord.

As for me, this is my wilderness experience. God is calling me to a place of prayer and separation unto himself as a preparation for ministry. I must be a minister to the Lord before I can ever expect to be an effective minister to people.

Thank you for the reply. I agree that we are all called to Intercession. However, I’m afraid I don’t see a literal New Testament corollary to the Levitical priesthood when examining the biblical text. There is no company of professional intercessors mentioned throughout church history. Unless you count the pay for prayer practices of the medieval Roman-Catholic corruption. Has the church suffered for this lack? With this said, an “Anna annointing” is a doctrinal extrapolation of a narrative account in God’s word. The descriptive narrative of Anna’s activity at the temple is not the same thing as a clearly prescriptive teaching. I believe that someone would be hard pressed to find any clear biblical support beyond the Luke 2 reference, (on a side note: Anna is not the first ‘evangelist’ in the NT–the angel of the Lord precedes Anna in declaring εὐαγγελίζω (the good news)in Luke 2.10). I’m sure you long to be sold-out to Jesus Christ. That is admirable. However, I would encourage you to be very careful in receiving untried doctrines such as the “Anna annointing” to legitimize an Intercessory Prayer Missionary calling.

Acts 15:16 clearly says that God will raise up the Tabernacle of David before the end. It is clearly what David had established in 1 Chronicles 22-24. Those people did not have any other job than that what was assigned to them in the temple of God.

“After this I will return
And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will set it up;
So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD,
Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name,
Says the LORD who does all these things.” Acts 15.16-17

I am also aware of this new “Tabernacle of David” doctrine. However, no honest exegete will agree with Mike Bickle that James is speaking of a literal rebuilding of the tabernacle here. He is making a point by paraphrasing Amos 9.11-12. The tabernacle of David is a type of Jesus Christ. The tabernacle was a moving structure which traveled with the nation of Israel. Jesus is the NT fulfillment of the OT tabernacle of David. John 1.14 says that, “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us”. The greek word (σκηνόω)here rendered as “dwell” literally means “to encamp” or “to tabernacle”. Christ is the new tabernacle which makes possible an inclusive faith–both Jew and Gentile–and is even now with us, “even unto the end of the age.” A rebuilding of a literal tabernacle would disregard the function of Christ–he is the total fulfillment of what tabernacle worship signified.

With that said, it is certain that James is citing this passage specifically to provide support for the inclusion of the Gentiles in the faith. The Jerusalem Council needs exhortation to accept Gentiles into the community of faith, OT prophetic support for this is provided by James to help them in their understanding. To extrapolate this citation beyond it’s purpose is simply bad biblical interpretation.

Jesus said clearly that his house shall be called a House of Prayer. Isaiah 56:7 backs that up.

There are plenty of verses that explain the inclusion of the Gentiles, such as the Centurion’s exclamation faith in Jesus’ authority. The Tabernacle of David is the way worship unto God was meant to be. reference Isaiah 56:7.

I hope you are well. I believe that this could actually be a fruitful dialogue. I appreciate your willingness to follow through on my line of reasoning.

With that said, Christ is the Tabernacle. Both Gentiles and Jews are invited to “Tabernacle” with him (worship in him) under the NT manifestation of the covenant of grace. That is what James is proclaiming to the Jerusalem Council. He is not saying, “One day Mike Bickle will reconstitute literal Tabernacle of David worship in Kansas City fueled and operated by Intercessory Prayer Missionaries.”

Why is the Tabernacle “set up” in James’ citation of Amos? “So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name.” Has this not happened without the literal return to tabernacle worship? Are the rest of mankind and the Gentiles just now, in the past several years since the inception of T of D worship, seeking the Lord? This is hardly the case, for the gospel has gone out into thousands of people groups all over the globe. Many men, women, and children believe, receive, and worshipfully dwell in the final Tabernacle in the flesh–the God-man Jesus Christ. Aside from this understanding I believe that Acts 15.16-17 presents textual problems which you may find extremely difficult to amend.

I challenge you to move on to Is. 56.8 which completes Isaiah’s thought.

Is. 56.8–The Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”

Isaiah is foretelling the full inclusion of the Gentiles here once again (‘others I will gather…’). Ultimately, we see that the Gentiles will be included alongside the Jews in worshipping within the Body of Christ (Amos 9, Acts 15)–here seen by way of temple imagery in 56.7.

Frankly, under the NT dispensation there is room for a wide variety of worship styles. To prescribe Tabernacle of David as the “way worship to God was meant to be” is an ambiguous statement. If you mean it was “the way worship was meant to be under the OT Tabernacle system” then we can agree. However, if you mean that it is the “way worship is meant to be today” then we must part company. There are very few prescriptions for the worship of NT saints. The preaching of the word, the administration of the sacraments, and certainly prayer are all included in the church’s worship. However, to promote a literal return to a Levitical liturgical model is extra-biblical, limiting, and ultimately legalistic.

Ok… let’s make one thing clear… I don’t believe that we are in a new dispensation at all. The Gospel is that of the Kingdom of God, grace through faith not of works lest any man should boast. Your argument under the dispensation of grace does little to nothing for me. God has always been God and that is that.

There was one way to worship God in the Old Testament and there will always be one way to worship God even now. The first commandment has always been the same since the time of Moses that is to Love the Lord with all your heart.

Besides what in the world have you got against Mike Bickle anyway? The guy preaches wholehearted love for God, the Sermon on the Mount, and the fasted lifestyle. He exalts Christ in every sermon he preaches and I have NEVER ONCE heard him attack any ministry but yet his ministry is attacked more often than any I have ever seen! Heck even John the Baptist was called demonic by the religious in his day.

But I must ask you this one question… What is your purpose in this conversation?

My motive for conversing with you is the perpetuation of a lively discussion involving (hopefully) a fair examination of IHOP’s presuppositions and hermeneutical practice. I am also interested in gaining a better understanding of how aware IHOP members are to the use of biblical prooftexting from within their organization. So far I am very satisfied with our conversation.

But to continue, the ceremonial laws–including Tabernacle/Temple worship stipulations–were abrogated (ended) by the NT saints as seen especially in the inclusion of the Gentiles and the ramifications of that inclusion in Paul’s letters. God has definitely always been God and will continue to be God. However, we know that the way in which the church (NT vs. OT) interacts with him as God changes.

I am not a dispensationalist. I hope my use of that term was not confusing. There is one covenant of grace seen as early as Gen.3.15 wherein men receive grace by faith. But, I am simply saying that this covenant was administered differently under the law as opposed to in the time of the gospel.

“There was one way to worship God in the Old Testament and there will always be one way to worship God even now. The first commandment has always been the same since the time of Moses that is to Love the Lord with all your heart.”

We worship God by way of grace through faith as exhibited in love. Loving devotion does not drive our worship. Faith does. Devotion is the fruit of faith. Faith is the root and love is the fruit.

With that said the Shema from Deuteronomy(Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, etc.) is a far-cry from Tabernacle of David worship. So if “The Tabernacle of David is the way worship unto God was meant to be.” Then, all of Christendom has gotten it wrong until the IHOP began teaching a Tabernacle of David worship model. Has the church failed in loving God by disregarding literal Tabernacle worship models?

And, Mike Bickle is not John the Baptist. If a leader’s extra-biblical doctrines are called into question by the church then it is a good opportunity for self-examination. “He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding” Prov. 15.32.

you’re satisfied by my supposed inability to supposedly ‘prove’ IHOP’s hermenutics… let me recommend you to someone who is much more effective than I since I have only been involved in the prayer movement less than a year and haven’t the hermenutical knowledge you desire

I honestly do not see any good fruit coming from this. You are obviously not going to convince me and I cannot convince you. My knowledge of the Word is very limited and I am new to the faith and the prayer movement. My arguments are not sufficient for someone who has put in the time or the efforts and I am afraid that your efforts to discredit Mike Bickle are wasted on me. Thank you very much and I will pray for you.

For the record I am part of a newly formed House of Prayer in Mississippi and I do not speak for Mike Bickle in the least bit. I am new to this whole thing and I am still in it because I believe God is in this thing.

I am not trying to ‘discredit Mike Bickle’. However, I do believe the whole council of the Scriptures does discount a number of his doctrines. I am not calling for a ‘hit’ on the man. I simply hope that you will personally pursue an honest biblical inquiry into any doctrine which imposes or prescribes radical deviations from historically orthodox Christianity. Don’t believe or follow any teaching just because seems attractive and makes you feels good and spiritual.

That is all. I hope I haven’t intimidated you, it is not my desire to be a bully. I have enjoyed our dialogue. I hope your desire to pray for me is authentic and not simply a ‘Christianese’ cordiality. Please do pray for me, my grandfather just died. He was not a believer and my mother is quite upset.

as for the advice… I am not one to just take something by word of mouth even Mike Bickle’s. I have to study it out simply because before I was saved all I knew of God was that what people had told me and I saw something different in the Bible. So yeah I know what you mean.

I came across another blog by an intercessory missionary. I wondered what it meant, so I’m thankful I came across your explanation. The dialog with natrimony reminds me of a story I heard from a friend of mine. When he was a young man and a new believer, he enjoyed debate. He had a Christian friend who came out of the Jesus Movement. Whenever he asked questions about theological issues, the friend would say, “I just know Jesus loves people, and people need Jesus.”

The story of Anna really got my attention about 15 years ago. I have a similar calling. Very exciting to hear that there are others.

Its interesting.. I appreciate the step of faith…
Have a doubt regarding the Anna anointing, does it mean that all intercessory missionaries would be, full time prayer missionaries and can work for sometime out??
Do you have just in one region or do you have similar groups in different parts of the world??

have been blessed reading the whole page.am experiencing some life’s displeasure and the more i pray the more i sense God is calling me to a more specific Intercessory ministry.Pray with me and if God shows you anything on the same, please communicate to me through the email address below.God bless you.I live in Kenya with my wife and daughter

A lot of saints are not interested in such a ministry because it is “hidden”. No one must know. It is the way to God’s heart though!!!!. It is through prayer that heaven is realeased to earth. It is not chuch programs and much jumping around. God bless u all who understand the most important need upon God’s heart. INTERCESSION

Hi Tim,
I came to this via a google search. Have enjoyed the discussion. I too am concerned at IHOPs “innovative” use of scriptures that are normally used to teach conventional (cross-cultural) missions (acts 15, clearing temple, house of prayer FOR ALL NATIONS etc..). reading your comments has been interesting because in a way you (and your interpretations of what you have heard) are the fruit of IHOP since you have been soaking in this teaching for a few years… When I noticed the date stamp of 2008 I became fascinated at the possibility of getting some longitudinal understanding of your time at IHOP over the years you have been involved…

When I browsed to your bloggs home page I was quite surprised to see you have moved on and are now in the army…(I see too there has been quite a bit of political blogging) So wow, for me thats quite a shift from being to doing… Can you tell me how you see this? Is it a progression, a new phase, or a change of track, or do you see cross cultural “ministry” among the nations with the US army as something compatible with being an intercessory missionary? Looking back, how do you see your time at IHOP? What have you learned? Do you feel your time “charged you up” and readied you for action as IHOP teaching (and your understanding of it above) seem to imply? Do you see the army mainly as a financial or career move or is it also spiritual in motivation etc.. Sorry for so many questions! Hope to hear from you.
BJ

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,If there are any of you who are still needing a bit of convincing prior to believing that Intercessory or Prayer Missionary is a true calling from our Lord God. I can only tell you my story. My father had a profound call to the ministry,when not long after,he and my mother discovered they were to have a new baby. They took this to be a sign,and my father was completely convinced that the baby would be a boy,so much so,that he refused for a girl’s name to be chosen.The baby was me,a girl,but little did they know this at the time,however,I was dedicated to the Lord,and to His work. My father’s dream was that i would be a great Evangelist,a cross between Billy Graham and John Wesley. When I turned out to be a girl, I always knew that I was to be a foreign missionary. I believed I was to be a missionary to Africa. I knew that I was to be a missionary even prior to the time of my salvation,as a very young girl. My parents knew that i was to be a missionary from before my birth even!. The Lord formally called me as a Foreign Missionary when i was 11 years of age. Then,when I was still quite young,I took a wrong turn. Afterwards my parents said to me,”I don’t know what you’ll do now,because you can’t be a missionary now.” Not until quite recently was I fasting and waiting upon God,trying to discover exactly what He DID want me to do,as I was somewhat puzzled up-to-that point as to what I had been shown,yet He soooo much wanted me to hurry up,because,as He put it,”Jesus was coming very,very soon!” So I said to Him,PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO,FATHER,I PROMISE I’LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT!”(He gave me so many warnings that Jesus’return is near.) He then said to me,clearly and loudly,”I’ve called you as a missionary!” just after,I discovered in Romans,The Gifts and Calling of God are without repentance.” When I was on the net,two evenings later, the Lord preceded to show me,by way of leading me to look up the life of a precious missionary to China,a missionary I’d always loved. Then, the tears streamed down my face,as the Father stunned me with the news that it was always China I was called to, never Africa. It hardly seemed plausible that I would now be able,in my present circumstances,be able to physically go to China. i don’t question God,however,all things are possible with Him. Yet,instead,I was led to a website,where I saw the term,”Prayer Missionary.” I then went and said to Him,I don’t think I need to ask you which country,I sure we both know it’s China. But China is a Big place. Is there any particular area you have in mind that you want me to concentrate on?” Now I know basically nothing-ZIP-about China,but instantly,there appeared the following word floating in my mind : SHANTUNG. I looked it up on Google. It was an important Province. (In the early 1930s had an Outpouring of The Holy Spirit. ) It is my main work,and the joy and peace I have within my heart,now that I am working within my calling is just gorgeous. In addition,I am interceding as much as possible for the lost,and all else besides.As Jesus says,”If you abide in me,and my words abide in you,you shall ask what you will,and it shall be done unto you.”(John 15:7-8) As the Word of God says in James,”The Judge is at the door!” Prayerfully receive my testimony,and God bless you all,PK x

How can I justify gifting my earned money to someone who simply prays all day? Shouldn’t we all as Chrtians stay constantly in prayer? I focus on keeping my mind in constant prayer. Does that mean I should be going around asking for peopel to partner with me so that I no longer have to work a real job?

Well Justinn, you pay your pastor and most of his job is praying and preaching. It is no secret that unless your message is palatable to the masses, that the gospel in it’s purest form, is not a profitable industry. Even in the Old Testament, the priests depended and lived off the tithes and offerings of the other eleven tribes. In the New Testament the apostles and even Jesus depended on the monetary support of others. While Paul was a tentmaker by trade, his primary vocation was preaching the gospel and ministering to others. The primary job of any Christian is prayer and for those in full time ministry, whether foreign or local, doubly so. In the minds of modern day Christians our wages and our tithes go to men who we don’t see till Sunday or occasional visits to our houses. Even that is a form of support raising. It’s biblical that God does not move unless his people pray and the greatest awakenings were birthed from men and women meeting daily in prayer. So to say that you can’t justify paying a minister who prays yet paying a person to preach is contradictory in and of itself.